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Weinstein Brothers and Miramax Sue Warner Bros and New Line Cinema for Breach of Contract

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Weinstein Brothers and Miramax Sue Warner Bros and New Line Cinema for Breach of Contract

Monday, January 27, 2014

Miramax, LLC recently filed a claim against Warner Bros and New
Line Cinema over the film adaptation of the famous J.R. Tolkien
adaptations of his Lord of the Rings
series. While Miramax acquired the actual rights to Tolkien’s works
and spent an initial $10 million on the film, the company
eventually chose not to finance the $150 million project and it was
taken over by New Line Cinema.

According to Miramax, the first 5% gross profit from the first
of film of each book was supposed to be given to them as
consideration for the transfer of rights to New Line. This
agreement was drafted when the companies were under the impression
that only one film would be made for each book in the
series.However, as the third film on the Hobbit is now in theaters,
Miramax claims that it is entitled to earnings from each of
them.

The issue at play here is whether or not royalties from the
films from the trilogy that were broken up into several parts and
released as separate movies should be paid to the Weinstein
brothers. While there was a clause in the initial agreement related
to the fact that no money should be paid on a “remake” of a film,
clearly these separate films cannot be considered remakes.

According to the plaintiffs, the three films based on “The
Hobbit” all have the name “The Hobbit” in their title. They were
written and filmed as parts of a whole and should be viewed in that
way, not as separate films or remakes. According to the claim, the
contract was written in 1998, before it had become popular for
filmmakers to create movies based on separate parts of one
book.

The Weinstein brothers are seeking $75 million in damages based
on their claims, which in addition to the breach of contract claim
highlighted in the above paragraphs, also include promissory
estoppel and breach of implied covenant of good faith. The
Weinstein brothers have requested that this be handled by an
arbitrator.

The Patterson Law Firm frequently deals with breach of contract
cases. To learn more about the services we offer visit pattersonlawfirm.com or call
312.223.1699.

This entry was written by Rose Gregory,
posted on Monday, January 27, 2014
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